The Black Sisters
by Koko the Cockatiel
Summary: The Black sisters, Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa, have always been great friends, but loyalties shift, and the Black sisters could be separated forever. Please read and review. I hope you like it!
1. In Which the Story Begins

**The Black Sisters**

In Which the Story Begins

"I love him, Andromeda! You don't understand! He may seem cold and cruel to you, but he is not like that at all! I'm going to marry him! You can't stop me!" a distressed Narcissa cried.

"Narcissa, _you _don't understand! He's vicious! You can't love him! He will only hurt you!"

"I'm going to marry him! I'm sorry, but I doubt we'll ever see each other again. Goodbye Andromeda. Goodbye forever." With that, Narcissa left the room with a sweep of her cloak to join her waiting fiancé in the hall.

"No!" Andromeda cried. "You don't know what you're doing! Please come back!" she sobbed. She knew nothing good could possibly come from this man. Narcissa had ignored her warning, as had Bellatrix only a few months ago. Both of her sisters had turned away from her, and away from the good that she knew was in them. "Please!" she wailed once more, tears streaming from her usually cheerful eyes. She would never again see the sisters she had known her whole life.

* * *

Three teenage girls, the oldest seventeen and the youngest fifteen, were standing surrounded by luggage by the large fireplace in the living room of their house in London. They were going back to school, or to be more exact, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Bellatrix, the oldest, was tall, and she held herself like a queen with her dark, straight hair flowing down to her waist and her murky grey eyes half hidden beneath heavy lids. Bellatrix, a Slytherin, was graduating this year. She was proud, especially of her pure blood, and rather vain, but her younger sister Andromeda knew she could still be a kind person, and she loved her very much. Andromeda was very different from her oldest sister. At sixteen, she was very small and slender, with thick red ringlets surrounding her pale face. Her intelligence could be seen from her bright grey eyes, which may explain why she was in Ravenclaw. Andromeda was very clever, but rather shy. She loved her sisters and her family, even though they were all a bit obsessed with pure blood. Andromeda did not care whether or not someone was muggle-born or not, but she respected her sisters' views. The youngest girl there, Narcissa, was small and slim like Andromeda, but she had thick, straight blonde hair and pale grey eyes to match. Narcissa was in Slytherin with Bellatrix, but Narcissa was still a very gentle person despite her rather negative opinions of muggle-borns and half-bloods that had been passed on by her parents.

As Andromeda watched her oldest sister reach for the elegant hand-painted pot of floo powder on the mantle, she discovered that she was rather uneasy around Bellatrix. She realized that Bellatrix was a very powerful witch, even though she was still in school. Narcissa was a rather different story. She was not very powerful, or very clever. However, she was really sweet, and she and Andromeda were very close friends. They spent hours chatting, or playing together or with their two kittens. Narcissa had a small white kitten named Lillian, and Andromeda's kitten was a little ginger fur-ball called Rosie. No matter what they did, Narcissa and Andromeda almost always got along. But Bellatrix was definitely a bit frightening to Andromeda. She could never tell what she was thinking or what she was going to do.

"Go on, Andromeda. Take a pinch of the floo powder," said her mother's voice, and Andromeda snapped back to reality.

"Alright, goodbye Mother! See you at Christmas!" And with that, she was off, followed closely by Narcissa.

* * *

"Hey, Andromeda! How are you?" hollered a tall, handsome boy as he came striding through the bustling crowds at Platform 9 ¾. Andromeda was Sirius Black's favorite cousin.

"Sirius! I haven't seen you in ages!" Andromeda had not seen him since the end of her fifth year, his sixth year, even though she had been to visit his family. He had run away the summer before to stay with his best friend, James Potter, because he was fed up with his family's obsession with pure blood as well as his parents constantly reminding him how much better his younger brother, Regulus, was than him. Andromeda really did not blame him because she knew how dreadful her aunt could be. She was a nasty woman who loved the dark arts and thought that to be a pureblooded wizard was as good as being royal. "Come sit with us! I have so much to tell you!"

"I would, but, well, you know how Bellatrix can be. She, er…" stuttered Sirius.

"She scares you. You're just too proud to admit it! I know you. I'll come talk to you in a little while. See you later!" said Andromeda, laughing. She was just teasing him. She knew Sirius hated Bellatrix with a passion, as well as being a bit scared of her. With that, she ran off, red-gold curls flying, to join her rather impatiently waiting sisters.

"Hurry up or we'll never get a compartment! I hope Rodolphus thought to save us seats. If he didn't I think I shall dump him." said Bellatrix. Rodolphus Lestrange was her boyfriend, a rather mean sort of person who often reminded Andromeda of a fox. She would not feel remotely sorry for him if Bellatrix dumped him.

"Andromeda, what's fifth year like? Do you get a ton of homework, or is it pretty much the same as fourth year? And are O. W. L.'s really hard and scary? I bet they are!" chattered a more than slightly worried Narcissa as they were walking towards the front of the train where Rodolphus was (thankfully) waiting for Bellatrix. Typical Narcissa. She was always anxious.

"You worry too much, Narcissa! O. W. L.'s are fine! Just pay attention in class. And sure, they give you more homework in preparation for the O. W. L.'s, but it's not that hard. Any time you need help you can come to the library during lunch. I'll most likely be there." Andromeda's favorite place in the whole school was the library. She spent quite a bit of her free time in there reading whatever she could get her hands on. Or, if it was a nice day, she would pick a book and go outside to read.

As the three sisters hauled their trunks onto the train, where Rodolphus _had_ saved a seat for Bellatrix, a sprightly sixteen year old boy with a mop of curly brown hair snuck up behind Andromeda and tickled her.

"Ah! Oh, hi Ted!" cried a startled Andromeda. Ted Tonks was her boyfriend, and rather unfortunately, a muggle-born, so Bellatrix loathed him and Narcissa was rather cold towards him. Poor, poor Ted. Andromeda certainly did not envy anyone who Bellatrix detested.

"Will you come sit with me, please?" pleaded Ted with his best sad puppy dog face.

"Oh, all right, but you'll have to come with me when I go talk to Sirius. I have to give him news on his family. Bye, Narcissa! Bye, Bellatrix! See you at the feast!" And with that, she was off, running behind Ted with a wicker cat carrier in one hand and a rather heavy trunk (full of books) dragging along behind her.

* * *

A/N: Please review! Thanks and I hope you liked it! 


	2. In Which They Return to Hogwarts

**The Black Sisters**

In Which They Return to Hogwarts

Bellatrix glared after Andromeda's retreating back as she dragged her trunk down to the other end of the train with Ted Tonks.

"Ever since she was sorted into Ravenclaw, she's been associating with mudbloods. They've had a bad influence on her. Ugh! _Why_ couldn't she be in Slytherin? Why?" questioned an angry Bellatrix.

"Kind of like your cousin, Sirius! He's in Gryffindor!" exclaimed Rodolphus Lestrange, suddenly remembering that Bellatrix was related to Sirius.

"Sirius is NOT my cousin! How dare you even mention him? He ran away last summer because he was a mudblood-lover. As far as I'm concerned, he is no relation of mine! And if Andromeda continues like this, going out with a mudblood, she won't be related to me either!" snarled Bellatrix furiously.

"But Bella, she is our sister! Though I must admit, I think that scum Ted has no right to even talk to her, and she certainly should not be dating him. It's shaming the family!" said Narcissa coldly.

"I will not have another blood traitor in my family! We have got to do something about that Ted Tonks!" cried Bellatrix.

"What, like curse him?" asked Rodolphus eagerly.

"No you idiot, it's called blackmail. But not yet. We ought to wait a little while."

* * *

Meanwhile, down at the other end of the train, Andromeda was chattering away happily with her friends from Ravenclaw. Her best friend, Mafalda Hopkirk was slightly taller than Andromeda with long shining brown hair and striking hazel eyes. Mafalda was another pure-blood, though her family did not really care much about that sort of thing. She had known Andromeda since she was three because they lived in the same neighbourhood. They had met because Andromeda had found a cat outside her window and had scrambled out to try to dress it in doll clothes. The poor cat, whose name was Dog, belonged to Mafalda, who had just moved in. Mafalda, seeing her cat in distress, ran over to try to help Andromeda put a doll bonnet on it.

"How was your summer, Falda? Oh! I nearly forgot! Will you come talk to Sirius with me?" said Andromeda, suddenly remembering she had to tell him everything that happened over the summer. "And Ted, will you come too?"

"Sure, I'll come, Andromeda!" said Mafalda eagerly. Mafalda was rather fond of Sirius.

"Okay, Andromeda. It'll at least be entertaining," replied Ted. Anyone with any sense of humour would be amused by a conversation with Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, or as they were sometimes called, the Marauders.

The three friends walked down the corridor of the train, looking in each compartment for Sirius and company. It was not so difficult to find them: all they had to do was to follow the laughter. They found the Marauders in one compartment towards the middle of the train, all guffawing raucously about something James had said. Andromeda was astonished to see a certain red-headed, green-eyed girl sitting next to James. Lily Evans _hated_ James!

"Hello!" she said as she slid open the compartment door. "Er, Lily, I hope you don't mind me asking, but what on earth are you doing in here with James? You hate him!"

"Well, I believe his head has deflated sufficiently for me to accept his offer of going steady."

"WHAT? He's been asking you to go out with him since fifth year and you've actually accepted? I suppose anything is possible, but I never would have expected this!" shrieked Mafalda as she slipped in the compartment behind Ted. Mafalda was generally shy around seventh years she didn't know very well, but she was so astonished by this news that she couldn't help but shriek. It was common knowledge at Hogwarts that while James Potter was madly in love with Lily Evans, she detested him and his colossal ego.

"My head deflated? I might need a new hat!" joked James.

"Really! Be serious, James," said Remus, a bit embarrassed at his friend's pretend stupidity.

"He can't be serious because I'M Sirius!" cried Sirius indignantly.

"Sirius, you've said that one too many times. It got old halfway through first year," said James.

"If you don't mind, I have some rather important things to discuss with Sirius," said Andromeda, trying to get back on task.

"Oh, right. Now, what's the news with my former family?" asked Sirius. "You know, Andromeda, I think you should probably run away, too. It's done me a world of good, hasn't it James? And your sisters certainly aren't making your life any easier!"

"I'm fine where I am Sirius, at least for now. But what I wanted to talk to you about is what your parents and your brother were harping on about all summer when we visited. There is some person who calls himself 'Lord Voldemort' who is steadily gaining supporters. Your brother Regulus and Bellatrix both seemed very interested in his ideas. This 'Lord Voldemort' person wants to purge the wizarding world of all muggle-borns. It wouldn't worry me too much, but it reminded me of something I read in a muggle history book about a man named Hitler. He wanted to rid Germany of all the Jewish people, and ended up torturing people and starting a war. I'm afraid that Voldemort might turn out like this. He could just be some nutter, but he could be more dangerous."

Everyone listened intently during Andromeda's brief speech, and Peter Pettigrew broke the silence afterwards with a short laugh.

"That's impossible! He couldn't possibly do a thing like that! Could he?" said Peter nervously, seeing everyone's serious faces.

"He could, Peter. It worries me, too, Andromeda. You said your sister and Sirius's, er, former brother were interested in joining him? What did your parent's make of it?" questioned Remus with a concerned look on his face.

"They thought his ideas were wonderful. Well, you know how my parents can be. Just like my aunt and uncle."

"Your sister scares me enough as it is, Andromeda, but if she joins some guy who calls himself 'Lord Voldemort' who wants to kill off the muggle-borns, I'm going to have to watch out for my life!" said Ted, only half joking, warm brown eyes wide in worry.

"Oh, Ted, really! Bella isn't that bad. She's just a bit, well, different," replied Andromeda.

"She's terrifying!" he said decidedly. "Do you realise how powerful she is? And how many curses and things she knows? And how much she detests me?"

"She hates me too!" Lily Evans piped up. "She loathes anyone who isn't a pureblood. You would think that one had to be pure-blooded to be worthy of existence!"

"I hate her!" said James promptly. If Sirius hated anyone, he hated that person as well. And if someone hated Lily, then that person deserved to die.

* * *

The rest of the train ride was reasonably uneventful, if one overlooked the fact that the Marauders managed to lock Severus Snape, a greasy, sallow-faced seventh year Slytherin and acquaintance of Bellatrix, in a compartment of the train by himself without his wand. When the train arrived at Hogwarts late that evening, it was dark, cold, and wet, with a bitter, biting wind swirling around the students, whipping sodden cloaks in people's faces. As they piled into the carriages, Mafalda shuddered, looking at the place where a horse should have been harnessed. Andromeda had forgotten that Mafalda could see the thestrals that pulled the carriages. Her uncle had died in St. Mungo's three years ago when she and her family were visiting. He had been making a potion and had added frog eggs instead of toad eggs, and the potion had exploded. Andromeda was very glad she could not see thestrals because, from the way Mafalda described them, they sounded utterly terrifying.

After the short, damp carriage ride, the students were glad to get inside the warm, well-lit Great Hall. Andromeda sighed happily. This was her home. She loved Hogwarts more than any place she'd ever been to. As she ran over to the Ravenclaw table to join her other roommates, Cynthia Sinistra and Lucille Diggory (whose twin brother, Amos, was in Hufflepuff) she glanced up at the staff table.

"Who's the Defence against the Dark Arts teacher this year?" asked Ted, following her gaze.

"I guess it's that witch on the end," replied Andromeda, scanning the row of teachers for a new face. The witch she mentioned was a woman of maybe sixty with short straight hair and rather large glasses. "I hope she's better than last year's!" said Andromeda. "She must be brave to take on the job! I know I wouldn't!" Nearly every year their teacher left, causing some people to believe the job was cursed.

"You know people just say that the spot is cursed! All the teachers had good reasons to leave," replied Ted.

"Yeah, like one was bitten by a vampire, another suddenly came down with a mysterious disease so she had to hospitalized, and the last one died in his sleep at the age of thirty! I would never take that job!" retorted Mafalda.

"Hush! The Sorting is about to start!" Andromeda whispered.

All through the sorting (how many first years _were_ there?) Ted was groaning with hunger, thinking of the good food to come. At the very end of the sorting, with "Whitby, Nicholas" sorted into Hufflepuff, Professor Dumbledore stood up, as if to give a speech. Ted moaned, thinking his dinner had to wait even longer.

"Eat up!" said Dumbledore, and sat back down.

"FOOD! Finally!" Ted cried as the plates in front of them were magically piled high with every kind of food imaginable. "Mmmmmmmm!"

"What is it with teenage boys and food?" Andromeda asked Mafalda disbelievingly as she watched Ted attempt to put three chunks of roast chicken in his mouth and at the same time attempted to take a bite of his bread.

"Hard to say," said Mafalda, who happened to be watching Sirius shovelling potatoes in his mouth over at the Gryffindor table. "Ew! That's nasty!"

When they finally finished eating (Ted having eaten six helpings of the main course and four puddings), Dumbledore stood up again.

"Now that you have all filled your stomachs," he said, glancing at Sirius and Ted, "I would like to introduce the new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Poletti," he continued indicating the woman at the end of the table. There was a warm round of applause. "And also, I believe Mr. Pringle, the caretaker, for those of you that are new here, would like to remind certain people, especially certain Gryffindors, that everyone must be out of the corridors and in their common rooms every night by nine o'clock. Good night!"

After braving the stampede back to all the common rooms, Andromeda, Mafalda, Cynthia, and Lucille collapsed into their four-poster beds in the round Ravenclaw dormitory marked "Sixth Years" and fell asleep almost immediately.

* * *

A/N: Please review! I hope you liked it! 


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